'Colditz in kilts?': Ex-pupil reveals 'truth' behind claim King Charles compared Scottish school to Nazi jail

It is one of the most regularly repeated stories from the childhood of King Charles, but could it actually have been a “complete fabrication” by a contemporary who was out for revenge?

That is “absolutely, explicitly, forcefully and unequivocally” the case, according to Scottish businessman Graham Hadley, who was at Gordonstoun School at the same time as the future monarch in the 1960s.

Mr Hadley has now spoken publicly for the first time about why he believes that Charles would never have have described Gordonstoun as “Colditz in kilts”, a phrase that is still repeated in almost every news article about the King’s time at the Moray school, and even made it into an episode of the hit Netflix series, The Crown.

Not only does Mr Hadley argue that it was “simply not in his DNA” to compare the school to Colditz Castle, a former Second World War prisoner of war camp in Germany, he also claims to know where the story originated.

He alleged that a well known trouble-maker “concocted” it and briefed it to a newspaper in an act of revenge against the school, after he was kicked out of Gordonstoun when he was caught smoking.

“It was just malice, really,” said Mr Hadley. “It has been repeated so often and it is now assumed to be true, which is even more frustrating, because I know it was completely fabricated in the first place.”

Gordonstoun School | (Photo by Andrew Milligan-WPA Pool/Getty Images)

He pointed to the heritage of the school, which was founded in 1934 by Kurt Hahn, a Jewish head teacher who had previously established Salem School in southern Germany, before speaking out against the rise of the Nazis.

Mr Hahn arrived at Gordonstoun with two of his students from Salem, and they were soon joined in September 1934 by a third - Prince Philip of Greece, who would go on to marry Queen Elizabeth II.

Mr Hadley said he also brought two German teachers, Frau Lachmann, an accomplished cellist who taught music to Gordonstoun boys, and Frau Hoff, who taught O-level and A-level German.

“I was at the school at the same time. All that German-Jewish influence and the affection and the standing that the two German ladies had, for instance, there is absolutely no way that the King would have insulted them or their memory, by using such a derogatory anti-German phrase,” he said.

Mr Hadley claimed the same high moral standards did not apply to all Gordonstoun boys of that era, however.

“In any community, particularly a school, there are good elements and bad elements,” he said.

“There was one house that was anti-establishment, and they had rogues and rascals. And of course in those days, the worst crime you could commit was smoking or drinking behind the bike sheds.

“There was one rascal who was a repeat offender. He was warned several times, and eventually it came to a head and he was asked to leave the school. And of course he resented it.

“This was a sad swipe against the establishment - what he could really do to irritate them would be to attribute a false statement to Charles.

“He was an anti-establishment rascal who found himself in a position to concoct and promote a silly phrase.

“It’s rather sad. You know, take a pop at him, yes, but don’t insult the memory of the heritage of the school.”

Mr Hadley said he would not name the individual, who is understood to have passed away now.

Gordonstoun School photograph from 1965. Prince Charles is third from left, in the third row, while Graham Hadley is 11th from left in the second row | Submitted

The image of Gordonstoun as a harsh environment was depicted in an episode of The Crown.

It has been reported that the younger Charles did write to his parents from Gordonstoun saying it was “absolute hell here most of the time” and “I wish I could come home”.

Mr Hadley believes, however, that this was no different to the feelings of almost any child sent away to boarding school.

“There were 400 boys at the school when I was there. I don’t think any of them would have chosen to be there,” he said. “I don’t know many schoolboys at the time who enjoyed going back to school.”

In 1974, Charles told The Observer he was “glad” he went to Gordonstoun, and the following year, in a speech to the House of Lords, he spoke of "the amount of rot talked about Gordonstoun" and "the careless use of ancient clichés used to describe it".

Prince Andrew and Prince Edward attended Gordonstoun, while Princess Anne sent her children Peter Philips and Zara Tindall to the school.

The King also recently become patron of the Gordonstoun Association, a role that had been held by his father.

Gordonstoun Principal Peter Green said: “His Majesty’s Coronation year was notable for the many contemporaries who spoke fondly about his time at Gordonstoun and how he played the cello, took part in numerous sports, joined the school’s Coastguard service, and had a flair for art and drama.

“While the then Prince Charles had his challenges like any teenage boy at school, His Majesty’s duty to service is an example of how the ethos and values of the school teaches students to be compassionate by thinking about others rather than themselves.”

A Buckingham Palace spokesman declined to comment.

Mr Hadley recently revealed how he had come up with a plan to try to help support the bursary programme at Gordonstoun, as the independent school sector deals with financial challenges linked to the ending of its VAT exemption.

The Fife-based businessman runs a company which holds the registered trademark in the name of Mary Queen of Scots.

Mr Hadley has offered to transfer the trademark in confectionery, which is mainly for shortbread and fudge, to the school.

It means Gordonstoun will own the trademark and can license it out to a company that wants to produce a Mary Queen of Scots brand of shortbread, in exchange for a royalty.